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It does not look good for the area due to the Butler Fire! An LA Times story with pictues is here http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-bearfire16sep16,1,457962.story?coll=la-headlines-pe-california The fire is moving in 2 different directions from the Butler Peak area. Green Valley Lake as well as Fawnskin and even southern Lucerne Valley have been evacuated. Hanna Flat campground has been evacuated. This fire could potentially take out Holcolm Creek AND John Bull. So sad! This area has awesome stands of very old trees, some of the best in the SBNF. I tried to get onto the incident website but it won't load, probably too much traffic. http://www.inciweb.org/state/5/ Here is a picture of Butler Peak from the LA Times article. You can see the lookout to the right of center.
I just got on the incident site. This update is 8 hours old Summary The Butler 2 Fire was reported at 1:30 pm on Friday northwest of Big Bear Lake. Highway closures--Hwy 18 is closed from Arrowbear east to Big Bear Dam. Drivers may not access Big Bear from Hwy 18 or from Hwy 330 in San Bernardino, but Hwy 18 is open from Apple Valley (the high desert). Drivers may also access Big Bear via Hwy 38 from I-10 in Redlands. Manadatory Evacuations for Fawnskin--The fire is currently about 18000 acres. Mandatory evacuations have been called for the Fawnskin area from the Big Bear Dam to The Discovery Center north of Hwy 38. An evacuatiion center has been setup at the Big Bear High School in Sugarloaf. Mandaytory Evacuations for Green Valley Lake-- The entire community from Hwy 18 as well as campgrounds from Green Valley Lake RD. Campgrounds include--Greeen Valley, Crab Flats, Tent Peg, and Fisherman's. Evacuation center at Jerry Lewis Community Center in Highland. Voluntary Evacuations have been called for Lucerne Valley from Crystal Creek Road on the east to High Rd on the west and North to the Pitzer Buttes area. Voluntary Evacuations from Downtown Running Springs east to Arrowbear Lake. Evcaution center is at Victor Valley College. Basic Information Incident Type Wildland Fire Cause Under Investigation Date of Origin 09/14/2007 at 1321 hrs. Location NW of Big Bear Lake Incident Commander Fiorella Current Situation Total Personnel 1,085 Size 13,829 acres Percent Contained 5% Fuels Involved Grass, Brush, and Timber. Fire Behavior Running Crowning and Spotting Significant Events Not available Outlook Planned Actions Direct attack with heavy air support. Projected Movement North and East Growth Potential Extreme Terrain Difficulty High. Remarks Highway closures--Hwy 18 is closed from Arrowbear Lake to Big Bear Dam. Drivers may not access Big Bear from Hwy 18 or from Hwy 330 in San Bernardino, but Hwy 18 is open from Apple Valley (the high desert). Drivers may also access Big Bear via Hwy 38 from I-10 in Redlands. Evacuations--Camp Whittle, Big Pine Flat, Ironwood, Hanna Flat, Green Valley, Campgrounds, Yellow Post campsites in the area, and Butler Peak Lookout. Forest Road Closures--2N13, both ends of 3N14, 4N16, 3N16 at Crab Flats, Grays Peak Trailhead. Resources on Scene--37 hand crews, 41 engines, 7 helicopters, 10 fixed winged, and, 15 dozers, and 14 watertenders. Manadatory Community Evacuations called for Fawnskin-- Mandatory evacuations have been called for the Fawnskin area from the Big Bear Dam to The Discovery Center north of Hwy 38. An evacuatiion center has been setup at the Big Bear High School in Sugarloaf. New Evacuations--Sept. 15, 230 pm--The entire community of Green Valley Campground Lake is under mandatory evacuation orders. Evacuation center is at Rim of the World High School. Voluntary Evacuations have been called for Lucerne Valley from Crystal Creek Road on the east to High Rd on the west and North to the Pitzer Buttes area. New Voluntary Evacuations--Sept. 15, 300 pm-- From Downtown Running Springs east to Arrowbear Lake. Weather Current Wind Conditions 7 mph W Current Temperature 62 degrees Current Humidity 3%
Vince had mentioned to me that the Spinnin Fours were planning a Big Bear run next weekend. Looks like you'll need to find somewhere else to go. Latest update I read reported that Hanna Flat campground is destroyed and it threatening to head toward Fawnskin.
There is a nice topo map here:http://socalmountains.com/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?29785.0You can see that all but the very west end of Holcomb Creek trail is in the burn area.
FYI, per the scanner reports there was just a fixes wing tanker that lost an engine and "crash" landed in Big Bear behind the Vons. Reports are that the Pilot is OK and walking around, but almost all of the air attack has been grounded due to the accident.
Bad news. I sure hope the pilot is ok. The Vons is on the east end of the lake near Fox Farms and near the little airport. I don't think that runway would be long enough for one of the tankers. The tankers fly out of the former Norton AFB. I have a friend of a friend who knows one of the pilots. Apparently they are a great group who certainly risk their lives to help others.
"Tanker" may not have been the best term. It was a small single engine, single seat plane kinda like a crop duster. Pilot is OK, but aircraft were grounded from the fire for about an hour.
A SINGLE-ENGINE AIR TANKER (SEAT) DID MAKE A FORCED LANDING IN A FIELD NEAR FOX FARM RD & SANDALWOOD DR (NEAR VONS MARKET) IN BIG BEAR LAKE. THIS IS--------------------------------------------------------------------------------RE: BUTLER 2 FIRE MON, 17 SEP 2007 21:10:54 GMTACCORDING TO THE PILOT, HE HAD AN ENGINE FAILURE. HE PUT IT DOWN IN THE FIELD JUST WEST OF THE VON'S MARKET ON BIG BEAR BLVD. HARD LANDING BUT PILOT IS--------------------------------------------------------------------------------RE: BUTLER 2 FIRE MON, 17 SEP 2007 20:56:50 GMTFROM WHAT I'M HEARING THE TANKER DID NOT GO DOWN IN THE LAKE.....HE PUT IT DOWN IN A FIELD JUST EAST OF THE LAKE...THE TANKERS BEING GROUNDED IS SOP (STANDARD--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
100% as of 9:30 last night. Now we have wait and see how long the trails will be closed. Holcomb Creek was a fun trail.
Started by Rocksurfer Trail Reports, Events, and Gatherings
Started by nowhitefenders Trail Reports, Events, and Gatherings
Started by sam2145871 Chit Chat Camp
Started by Rubijon Trail Reports, Events, and Gatherings
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Topic: Butler Peak, John Bull, Holcomb, Hanna Flats, Fawnskin Threatened.......(Burned) (Read 6536 times)
